The Ottoman Empire That Never Was

A couple of years ago, I had a brainwave: I was going to get rich making furniture out of old suitcases! It came after leafing through a library book on recycled crafts, and seeing a photo of a very cute bench made out of a vintage suitcase.  I thought, "I can do this!" and started imagining filling my house with all versions of suitcase furnishings (Ottomans! Side tables! Cat beds!) and selling them on Etsy and at craft shows.

Well, to this day, I have only made one piece of suitcase furniture. As it turns out, vintage suitcases are not as cheap or as easy to come by as I thought they'd be, so I can't imagine what I'd have to sell my upcycled creations for in order to make this brainwave worthwhile. But, that being said, I like my lone suitcase ottoman. You can make one, too. All you need is:

• a vintage suitcase
• a piece of foam cut to fit snuggly inside the suitcase and extend over the top by several inches
• fabric to cover the foam with
• four screw-in sofa "feet" and associated fittings depending on the kind of feet you choose 
• screws
• a piece of plywood cut to fit inside the bottom of the suitcase
• a screwdriver or power tool
• a hammer

The first thing you'll have to do is break off the top of the suitcase. This took a little more work than I was expecting, but a few good blows with the hammer did the trick. Next, put your plywood inside and screw/drill your feet into the bottom. (I ended up painting my vintage feet found at my local Bibles for Missions store to match the colour of the suitcase.) Wrap your foam with fabric (mine is a vintage bark cloth I ordered from Etsy) and just pin it at the bottom, then insert into suitcase and you are done! Now you have a lovely, bespoke conversation piece to adorn your handcrafted home.